{"id":29410,"date":"2024-09-10T13:50:46","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T20:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=29410"},"modified":"2024-09-10T13:50:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T20:50:46","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-viva-la-muerte-1971","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=29410","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: VIVA LA MUERTE (1971)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is\navailable for purchase on September 10th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While many go through tough childhoods, artist Fernando\nArrabal is one of the few who experienced a difficult one and used it as\ninspiration for his art. The famous Spanish playwright, artist, novelist, poet\nand, obviously, screenwriter and film director eventually found success in his\nadult life as an internationally renowned figure who used his troubled\nchildhood as his major influence. Viva la Muerte<\/em> was his first\nfeature-length movie that earned plenty of attention during its original\nrelease for its disturbing and shocking story elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The picture has been difficult to find on disc in North\nAmerica, but Radiance Films have picked up the rights and are making it\navailable as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray. As expected with other titles from\nthe distributor, the picture quality is excellent. It contains a 4K film\nrestoration from the 35mm camera negative, so the images on display look as\ngood as they possibly can. And the bonus features will be enlightening to those\nwho may find the surreal narrative difficult to follow, or just want to know more\nabout the movie-maker. In many respects, Arrabal\u2019s work seems in tune with\ncontemporaries like Alejandro Jodorowski (El Topo, The Holy Mountain<\/em>)\nand anyone who appreciates his titles will find this release to be of great\ninterest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story takes place during the Spanish Civil War. It\nfollows a 10-year-old boy named Fando (Mahdi Chaouch) living in Francisco\nFranco-controlled Spain. Without warning, his father (Ivan Herriques) is taken\nby authorities and the child is left traumatized at the loss. He stays with his\nrather cold-hearted mother (Nurai Espert) and deeply religious, self-\nflagellating aunt (Anouk Ferjac), witnessing them take part in odd and at times\nbizarre rituals. He eventually discovers that his mother, a fascist-sympathizer,\nratted his father out to authorities for his leftist views. The boy then\nunexpectedly learns that, despite his death sentence, his dad is still alive\nand in prison. Fando runs away, hoping to be reunited. Over the course of the\nfilm, the child has hallucinations of what may have happened to his father and\nwhat he might be doing now. While on his own, Fando also begins to find some\nsense of himself in this gruesome world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The narrative is fairly simple and serves as a way for the\nyoungster to have bizarre and surreal visions. Most are captured and displayed\non video (which was incredibly unique during this period). These nightmarish\nscenes make a big impact. There is a striking image of the child\u2019s father\nburied up to the neck in the desert before being trampled by horses. There is a\nscene involving eyeball piercings and other forms of torture (the mother even\nevacuates her bowels on her husband\u2019s head). Another grotesque scene involving\nhis mother features the woman rolling around in a slaughterhouse with the\ncarcass of a bull. She not only beheads the animal, but castrates it. Other\nprovocative moments include whippings, and a cilice being wrapped around the\nthigh of Frando. Viewers see priests in compromising positions and the boy is\nfrequently abused, leading to uniquely strange behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some images are extreme and startling. The picture\neffectively displays the effects of life under fascist rule and the horrific\nbehavior of those who follow the far-right leader, as well as the nasty acts of\nmembers of the Catholic church. It\u2019s a pretty direct and unsettling message.\nThere is a bit of dark humor to alleviate the bleak tone, but it can still be a\nrough watch. The intentionally surreal approach often leaves the viewer with\nmore questions about what is happening, but the images on display linger long\nafter the credits roll and the movie is unwavering in its mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This Blu-ray includes several excellent extras. The first is\na commentary track from The Projection Booth<\/em> podcast that includes Mike\nWhite, Heather Drain and Jess Byard. It\u2019s a fine track, although the\nparticipants speak more on what each individual thinks might be the deeper\nmeanings behind each scene than assertively stating what Arrabal intended.\nWhite notes that he almost managed to get Arrabal to participate in their\npodcast show, but that he backed out at the last minute.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, anyone who watches the 2011 feature-length French\ndocumentary on Arrabal included on the disc will get a clear sense of what was\ngoing on. It\u2019s a detailed examination of the artist\u2019s life as detailed by the\nfilmmaker himself (it is also interspersed with interview footage of his wife).\nWhat one might initially assume about the movie turns out to be very true as we\nlearn more about Arrabal\u2019s childhood. Much of the real-life nastiness on\ndisplay was based on real events and many of the surreal elements were inspired\nby his feelings at the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arrabal indeed lived in a small village that generally\nsupported extremist Franco and his brutal tactics. His father was an army\ncolonel who refused to join Franco\u2019s forces. And his mother did have her\nhusband arrested and sent away. His father attempted suicide in prison and was\neventually transferred to a mental facility. He later would have been permitted\nto return home with his wife\u2019s approval, but she turned down the request. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Arrabal was never reunited with his dad, the film\nsuggests that his pop was killed by the government because, had he lived, his\ntreatment would not have looked good on the wardens or Franco\u2019s regime. Arrabal\nresented his mother because of her actions and they had long-lasting issues as\na result. He admits as an adult he understood her intent was to protect him\nfrom harm because of his dad\u2019s beliefs, but can never fully forgive her. As he\ngrew up, Arrabal excelled at school and earned awards (as it turns out, his\nmother worked in the government). After establishing himself as an artist, he\nused his gifts to openly attack Franco and fascism. Spain would transition back\nto democracy a few years after Franco\u2019s death in 1975.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The doc also goes into Arrabal\u2019s fascinating career with the\nsurrealist movement. He tells stories about other famous artists in the\n\u201cSurrealist\u201d group, as well as the dissent and bickering between members. It\nseems founder Andre Breton was a pushy leader and that many members hated him\n(as founder, he considered himself the only figure allowed to admit others into\nthe group, causing internal strife). Viewers also see how Arrabal fit into what\nis known as the \u201cPanic\u201d movement with other artists like Jodorowski.  The\ndocumentary is excellent and really helps one not only understand the film, but\nsurrealism in general. There are also comments from contemporary artists on\nwhat Arrabal was trying to achieve in his work and their interpretation of his\nunique mix of provocative, shocking imagery and humor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also an informative interview with a film historian\ndiscussing the movie and Arrabal\u2019s intent, as well as an interesting archival\ndocumentary with behind-the-scenes footage from the shoot. Additionally, a\ntrailer and a still gallery is included on the disc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you appreciate the strange and surreal, Viva la Muerte<\/em>\nis probably one of the best movies of its kind. It\u2019s dark and disturbing with a\ngrim sense of humor and unsettling imagery that stays with you. This \u201cLimited\nEdition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is excellent. The Blu-ray provides a\nhigh-quality transfer and some exceptional bonuses that help fill in any blanks\nabout the intent and provide insight about Arrabal. This disc is highly\nrecommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is available for purchase on September 10th. While many go through tough childhoods, artist Fernando Arrabal is one of the few who experienced a difficult one and used it as inspiration for his art. The famous Spanish playwright, artist, novelist, poet and, obviously, screenwriter and film director eventually […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":29421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[101,1851,2933,2939,3073,7492,7517,15686,16584,18788,19398,23865,23866,23867],"class_list":["post-29410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-101","tag-arthouse","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-fernando-arrabal","tag-film","tag-panic-movement","tag-radiance-films","tag-spain","tag-surrealist","tag-viva-la-muerte","tag-viva-la-muerte-blu-ray-review","tag-viva-la-muerte-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29410\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}